'As bad as it gets': Australia braces for worst of wildfires

By Kevin Voigt, Jessica King and Robyn Curnow, CNN

updated 1:26 AM EDT, Wed October 23, 2013

New South Wales Rural Fire Service crew members fight a fire near Mount Wilson in the Blue Mountains of Australia on Thursday, October 24. Wildfires threatened the western suburbs of Sydney on Wednesday as high winds and temperatures created at least a dozen new fires that were blazing across a 1,000-mile stretch of New South Wales.

Embers blow around trees as a fire rages near Mount Wilson on October 24.

Firefighters battle flames in the Blue Mountains on October 24.

Thick smoke fills the sky near Faulconbridge on October 24.

A helicopter drops water on fires burning in Faulconbridge on Thursday, October 24.

Firefighters battle the fire front as it moves toward homes in Lake Macquarie, Australia, on Wednesday, October 23.

Firefighters battle the front line in Lake Macquarie on October 23.

Firefighters rest as they wait for the fire front to jump a freeway in Newcastle, Australia, on October 23.

New South Wales Rural Fire Service crews mop up an area after stopping a fire in Bilpin in the Blue Mountains of Australia on October 23.

A firefighter mops up on October 23, after a firestorm swept through Bilpin.

A volunteer firefighter holds onto his helmet as strong winds push through the Mount York fire area near the Blue Mountains on October 23.

Rural Fire Service firefighters set up a back burn near Springwood in the Blue Mountains on Tuesday, October 22.

People walk around the area behind their destroyed home in Winmalee on October 22.

A firefighter hoses flames near houses in Bilpin on October 22.

A man in Yellow Rock, Australia, stands in front of a building on Monday, October 21, that was destroyed by the bush fires scorching the country's eastern state of New South Wales.

A firefighter lights a back burn Monday, October 21 near Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains. There are fears that the dozens of fires could become one possible "megafire."

Smoke from the bush fires is seen burning near Sydney in this October 21 photo released by NASA. New South Wales is Australia's most populous state. One in three Australians live there.

A firefighter puts in containment lines on the Darling Causeway, near Bell, Australia, on October 21.

A volunteer firefighter works to put out a fire near the Monkey Creek Cafe in Bell on Sunday, October 20.

Victims look over the remains of their home on Friday, October 18, after a devastating bush fire passed through Winmalee in the Blue Mountains.

In this photo provided by Zig Zag Railway, Rail Motor 2016 sits burnt out October 18 after the fires swept through the Australian heritage railway line near Lithgow.

A helicopter works to extinguish bush fires burning near Winmalee on October 18.

The charred coastline of Catherine Hill Bay is seen near Wyong, Australia, on October 18.

The Wallarah House, a historic site, sits burned to the ground in Catherine Hill Bay on October 18.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaks during a bush fire briefing in Winmalee on October 18.

Smoke fills the sky above the Winmalee Country Club on October 18.

Firefighters fought scores of bush fires in New South Wales early on October 18.

Smoke and ash from wildfires blanket the Sydney skyline on Thursday, October 17.

Blue Mountains, Australia (CNN) -- More than 70 wildfires -- including 29 that are uncontained -- are raging across a wide swath of Australia's most populous state, now threatening the western suburbs of Sydney, authorities said Wednesday.

"It's only a matter of hours before we see a flare-up in fire activity and a breach of these tenuous containment strategies," said Shane Fitzsimmons, Rural Fire Service (RFS) commissioner, in Sydney earlier in the day.

The wildfires stretch along a nearly 1,000-mile line in New South Wales, from the far north of the state south of Brisbane -- which lies just across the Queensland border -- to east of Canberra, the country's federal capital. Fires in the Blue Mountain range west of Sydney are a particular worry as rough terrain has impeded firefighting efforts.

"If our strategies don't work and weather materializes tomorrow that is forecast ... it could be absolutely devastating," said Rural Fire Service (RFS) Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers in New South Wales on Tuesday. "We lost a couple hundred homes the other day -- we could get worse losses than that." Wednesday is expected to be "about as bad as it gets," added Fitzsimmons.

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With high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds forecast, fire officials have urged residents to evacuate from the path of the fires. "On days like today, minutes really matter," Fitzsimmons said.

At least one death has been reported. A 63-year-old man died of a suspected heart attack Friday while defending his home against a blaze on the New South Wales Central Coast, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, or ABC, reported.

Some urban areas that border the Australian bush have been devastated by the fires, which have destroyed more than 200 homes in the Blue Mountains region since Thursday.

Scores of fires now have burned 25,800 hectares (310,859 acres) -- an area greater than the size of Los Angeles. On Tuesday, officials said they were bringing in 1,500 firefighters to join the more than 1,000 emergency crews already on the ground.

At Blue Gum Forest inside the Blue Mountains National Park, firefighters were doing controlled burns -- setting fires in the bush ahead of the frontline of the blazes to eliminate tinder and slow the progress of the fires. Instead of cloud-shrouded mountaintops, the valleys of the region were covered with a dense layer of smoke.

Fears are still high that fires could join to form a "mega-fire" and endanger heavily populated areas of this popular natural retreat west of Sydney.

Most of the firefighters in the area were volunteers who've left their ordinary jobs to put out the fire, pouring in from different parts of Australia.

"There's a sense of community, doing what they can -- you can get a sense of resilience, strength, and a deep sense of pride of each brigade pulling their weight," said CNN's Robyn Curnow, reporting from the Blue Mountains.

The state of emergency issued by authorities gives firefighters and police the authority to carry out measures such as cutting off water, power and gas and ordering mandatory evacuations of areas at risk.

A total fire ban is in place for the Greater Sydney region until further notice, officials have said, meaning no fire may be lit in the open, and all fire permits are suspended. The fires have spread a cloak of smog over Sydney in recent days.

The bush fires in the area spread out of control Thursday amid high temperatures and powerful winds. Emergency officials said the region is emerging from a very dry winter and has had little rain in recent months.

The causes of the Blue Mountains fires are still under investigation -- officials are looking into whether one major blaze was caused by a military training exercise.

Police said Monday they had arrested two boys, age 11 and 15, over two earlier bush fires in the Port Stephens area, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Sydney, that began October 13. One of the fires they are accused of starting burned more than 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) in the surrounding area.

The 11-year-old has been placed under house arrest, charged with two counts of intentionally causing fire and being reckless as to its spread, NSW Police Force said. The child is scheduled to appear in court next month where he is expected to plead not guilty to the charges, CNN affiliate Sky News reports.